Flirting with the Villain's Mother - Chapter 18

Shen Su couldn’t help but think of Jiang Ruiping. After all, in Mirror Quilt’s memories, Jiang Ruiping had been the strongest cultivator on Approaching Immortals Mountain.

Although the Elder Council was replaced with each new Sect Leader, the former Elders didn’t die; they simply retreated into seclusion, serving as the mountain’s hidden trump card. In the original novel, these Supreme Elders had intervened, but Jiang Xu, who had fused with the Yu Ling Sword’s Sword Soul and fallen to the Demonic Path, was absurdly powerful. Coupled with the Elders’ insistence on protecting the younger disciples, they ultimately suffered a complete annihilation.

Yet among the Supreme Elders who intervened, Jiang Ruiping—the strongest of Shen Yinxue’s generation—was conspicuously absent. Could she really have stood by and watched Approaching Immortals Mountain be destroyed?

Jiang Ruiping clearly wasn’t someone who disregarded the sect, yet the original novel contained almost no mention of her.

Could it be that Jiang Ruiping had already passed away before Jiang Xu’s annihilation of Approaching Immortals Mountain? Or perhaps she had already attained enlightenment and ascended to immortality?

This was highly peculiar, considering that the interval between the Sect Leader’s succession and the mountain’s destruction was barely over a century.

A sudden, deafening roar jolted Shen Su back to full awareness. Dazed, she whipped her head toward the source of the sound, only to see the rough, uneven stone wall. Her gaze couldn’t penetrate the barrier; she could only observe that the wall had become damp, likely a result of her ancestor’s power.

The sound persisted. Shen Su touched her earlobe, realizing the noise must be coming from a great distance, perhaps even the tomb chamber’s entrance.

Seeing her touch her ear, Wei Nanyi immediately asked, “Miss Shen, what’s wrong?”

Before her words could fully register, a shout echoed through the tomb chamber: “Shen Su! Shen Su, where are you?!”

It was the Mantis Demon!

Having escaped the Bee Demon, he had entered the tomb chamber. His voice, loud and urgent, reverberated through the empty space like the cry of a vengeful spirit.

Clutching her ears, Shen Su looked at Wei Nanyi with pleading eyes. “Madam, we need to escape, but I can’t move.”

Her body was still dissolving, the boundary between her skin and the flowing water blurring. If not for the water droplets’ unbroken momentum, Shen Su might have screamed in terror.

Shen Su felt utterly helpless. After speaking, she lowered her gaze to conceal her guilt.

But lowering her head only startled her further.

A shallow pool of water had accumulated beneath her. Through the water’s surface, Shen Su saw her current reflection: she looked as if she were about to completely dissolve, her entire body drenched, her face rippling with water, and her eyes veiled in a misty haze—not tears, but rather the gradual transformation of her form into a humanoid figure composed of water droplets.

Beneath the translucent droplets, instead of veins and bl00d, grew dense strands of crimson fur, many already protruding from the water. Most strikingly, a pair of fiery red fox ears had sprouted from her head.

Not ugly, but undeniably bizarre.

Shen Su sincerely considered whether she could use this bizarre appearance to intimidate the Mantis Demon, thinking it might deliver a significant shock.

Wei Nanyi didn’t possess Shen Su’s keen hearing, but she knew Shen Su wouldn’t speak without reason. Summoning her strength, she glanced at the fox ears sprouting from Shen Su’s head and realized the truth. “Miss Shen, can you hear sounds ordinary people can’t? Has the Mantis Demon followed us in?”

Wei Nanyi’s guess was spot-on. Shen Su nodded frantically.

Wei Nanyi reached out, intending to soothe Shen Su’s anxiety, but hesitated, unsure which pair of ears to touch. She chuckled softly and withdrew her hand. “Miss Shen, rest assured. Without the Shen Family bloodline’s pull, that Demon will find it difficult to enter the tomb chamber. You should still have time to merge with your bloodline’s power.”

Her voice was like a gentle stream, but unlike Shen Su’s body, its soothing flow calmed the heart without conscious effort.

Yet Shen Su sensed Wei Nanyi had grown even weaker. Her words came slowly, each syllable falling with labored effort.

Knowing that only her bl00d could help Wei Nanyi, Shen Su lowered her gaze to the woman’s nearly melting form. Her lips twitched slightly as she asked hesitantly, “Madam, would you like some water?”

The Mirror Quilt’s power stemmed from Mirror Lake; the water should have some effect.

As she thought this, Wei Nanyi stared at her, her expression stiffening slightly. “Miss Shen, both your bl00d and the lake water are part of your body. Please don’t keep thinking of harming yourself to help me.”

“But Madam has been so kind to me!”

Wei Nanyi had just been willing to sacrifice herself to secure Shen Su’s survival. How could Shen Su now say such things to her?

Though Wei Nanyi claimed she wouldn’t die easily, the pain she endured was undeniably real.

Ultimately, Wei Nanyi was simply too good—excessively so.

Shen Su spoke before Wei Nanyi could respond: “Madam, you’re too kind. You’ll never survive like this. You helped me, so it’s only natural I help you in return. Bl00d can regenerate. I know I’m weak, but you’re weak now too. I need your protection, and you need mine. Madam, you must understand that the strong can pity the weak and offer assistance, but the weak must first prioritize their own survival to live well.”

Shen Su wasn’t arguing that kindness was inherently bad. She simply believed that everything depended on the circumstances. In the past, she had the skills to back up her benevolence, but Wei Nanyi no longer possessed such strength.

This was, after all, a cultivation world, rife with hidden dangers that could claim their lives at any moment.

Shen Su even felt her words weren’t strong enough. What she truly wanted to say was that in this world, only the ruthless could survive.

Jiang An was ruthless enough to obtain two Nascent Souls, paving his path to the Dao of Ruthlessness with the bl00d of the Goddess, his cultivation soaring to unprecedented heights. Jiang Xu was equally ruthless, forcibly merging the Sword Soul of the Yu Ling Sword that had followed him for centuries and using the flesh and bl00d of living beings to pave his Demonic Path, gaining the power to kill Jiang An and annihilate the Four Great Immortal Sects. The male lead, too, possessed sufficient ruthlessness, repeatedly seizing resources to strengthen himself, ultimately emerging as the victor.

Shen Su had expected Wei Nanyi to be angry. After all, her words had essentially negated Wei Nanyi’s entire past, even reminding her that she was no longer the lofty Goddess she once was.

Yet Shen Su had underestimated Wei Nanyi’s gentle nature.

Wei Nanyi showed no anger. Apart from a slight darkening of her expression, she seemed to have completely ignored Shen Su’s words.

Reluctant to give up, Shen Su called out again, “Madam!”

She wasn’t trying to force Wei Nanyi to change. She simply wanted Wei Nanyi to accept her bl00d. She had long considered this: as long as Jiang Xu didn’t kill her immediately upon learning that her bl00d was beneficial to Wei Nanyi, she could truly serve as a long-term bl00d source by her side. Even if she lost too much bl00d, she could simply take more tonics to replenish it.

Wei Nanyi reached out again, her palm gently stroking the fox ears that had sprouted from Shen Su’s head. Her gaze was tender, though tears glistened faintly in her eyes. “Miss Shen isn’t ruthless enough.”

It seemed Wei Nanyi was pitying her.

She pitied Shen Su for being dragged into this unfamiliar world, where her bloodline forced her to worry about every day and night ahead, even before she had truly set foot on the Immortal Path.

Wei Nanyi seemed to have seen through Shen Su’s desire for a peaceful life, even if it meant only a hundred years.

Shen Su’s chest tightened. Wei Nanyi clearly lacked Mirror Quilt’s mind-reading abilities, yet she could effortlessly see through people, piercing through all their defenses. Under the steady gaze of those eyes, Shen Su involuntarily lowered her gaze, her voice the only thing that remained defiant. “If anything threatens my life, I’ll strike first! I will!”

Wei Nanyi was about to speak when suddenly, the completely damp stone walls began to emit a ghostly blue mist, fine and icy. Shen Su’s breath crystallized into wisps of frost. If she could feel this level of cold, what about Wei Nanyi, who had no spiritual power and was already injured?

Alarmed, Shen Su urgently turned to Wei Nanyi.

Wei Nanyi’s lips were frighteningly pale, and her face seemed coated in frost. Her slender body trembled slightly, and within moments, her fair skin began to show bluish marks.

“Madam,” Shen Su said urgently, finally able to move.

But… as she watched the water-like arms grow wildly, then tightly wrap around Wei Nanyi’s waist, chest, and abdomen, Shen Su’s face flushed crimson. “Madam, I… I didn’t mean to be so forward.”

Wei Nanyi had never been so familiar with Mirror Quilt before. Moreover, Mirror Quilt rarely lost control of its transformation. All she had ever experienced was the sensation of warm, fine water enveloping her layer by layer, dispelling the deadly chill.

The water wrapping around her was warm but didn’t wet her clothes. It felt like soaking in a hot spring—exactly what she needed in the frost-laden tomb chamber.

Wei Nanyi exhaled a warm breath. “I should be thanking you, Miss Shen.”

Shen Su fell silent, the words stuck in her throat.

Finally, as the icy mist gradually seeped into Shen Su’s body, her form slowly returned to normal. Even her damp clothes dried instantly, the tomb chamber’s moisture vanished, and the biting cold receded.

Shen Su exhaled a misty breath, fine beads of sweat forming on her palms. “Madam, I’ve broken through to the peak of the Qi Condensation Stage.”

Wei Nanyi hadn’t expected Shen Su to advance so quickly—completing Qi Condensation in less than a day and already nearing the next realm. She frowned. “Miss Guiyan must have compressed her power into that jade bead. Since Miss Shen achieved Qi Condensation and even reached its peak in such a short time, your foundation might be unstable. For now, focus on consolidating your cultivation rather than rushing to break through further.”

Shen Su nodded eagerly. “Yes, Madam.”

Tap, tap, tap—footsteps approached. Shen Su swiftly bent down, lifted the box from the Stone Coffin, and knelt slightly with her back to Wei Nanyi. “The Mantis Demon is coming! I’ll carry you out, Madam!”

Having inherited the Mirror Quilt’s memories, Shen Su knew the exit’s location.

Her original frail body couldn’t have carried Wei Nanyi, but after absorbing the condensed power and reaching the peak of the Qi Condensation Stage, Shen Su felt an inexhaustible strength surging through her.

Wei Nanyi nodded and slowly leaned onto Shen Su’s back.

Shen Su held the box with one arm and supported Wei Nanyi with the other, her fingers inevitably brushing against Wei Nanyi’s skin. The earlier scenes flashed through her mind again, reigniting the suppressed agitation. She bit her lip, desperately trying to calm her racing heart, inwardly grateful that Wei Nanyi couldn’t see her flushed face.

But Shen Su’s relief was short-lived.

Wei Nanyi wrapped her arms around Shen Su’s neck, her breath drifting easily to her ear. “Miss Shen, you’re so warm.”

If Wei Nanyi hadn’t spoken, Shen Su might have managed to maintain her composure. But now, she wished she could bury herself. She exhaled quietly, feeling the tip of her tongue burn. Her voice stuttered, “P-perhaps… perhaps it’s just too stuffy in the tomb.”

If only Wei Nanyi would never know that the warm water that had warmed her body earlier was actually transformed from my arm, and that I could feel it…

That delicate, soft touch, even through the layers of fabric, felt like it could melt in her palm…